Mario's Cement Factory
| released= |genre= Platform game |modes=Single-player }} is a portable electronic game developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo in 1983 as part of a series of Game & Watch devices. It stars Mario as he funnels cement in a factory. Critics have called it one of the best Game & Watch games, if primitive by today's standards. It has also been called one of the weirdest [[Mario games|''Mario games]]. It has been re-released in various forms. Gameplay The game puts players in the role of Mario, who works at a cement factory where he funnels cement into cement trucks. Mario must navigate two dangerous elevators and avoid falling or being crushed and losing a life. Mario must also continually empty cement into the trucks, or else the cement will overflow and crush one of the workers below, which also costs the player a life. In this game Mario can't jump and there are no enemies. There are two game modes: A and B, with B being more difficult. Development Mario's Cement Factory was developed by Nintendo R&D1, which at the time was led by Gunpei Yokoi, and published by Nintendo. Like all Game & Watch releases, each unit is a standalone portable device that doubles as a clock and can only play the one game. Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto was not the designer. Hirokazu Tanaka composed the game sounds. Two versions of the game were released. One version is part of the more advanced Game & Watch Table Top series and debuted on April 28, 1983. It has a full color illuminated screen, and approximately 250,000 models were produced. A smaller handheld version was also released in 1983 as part of the New Wide Screen series. It has a monochrome screen with a color overlay, and approximately 750,000 units were produced. The game was released the same year that Nintendo's Famicom system debuted in Japan, and two years after the first Mario title (the arcade game ''Donkey Kong''). Re-releases unit]] The game has been re-released in various forms. Generally, these releases faithfully re-create the New Wide Screen graphics (and none of them re-create the Table Top graphics.) Game Boy Gallery and Game & Watch Gallery 4 include versions with updated graphics. *1995: Part of Game Boy Gallery for the Game Boy with updated graphics. *1997: Part of Game & Watch Gallery for the Game Boy (which was later ported to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console ). *1998: Part of the Nintendo Mini Classics line, which repackaged Game & Watch games in small Game Boy-like devices. *2002: Part of Game & Watch Gallery 4 for the Game Boy Advance (which was later ported to the Wii U Virtual Console). This version lets you choose between the New Wide Screen version, and a remake with updated visuals and gameplay. The remake switches the setting to a cookie factory, and includes the characters Yoshi, Toad, and Boo. *2009: A port on the digital DSiWare shop for the Nintendo DSi line of handhelds. This version was first released in Japan on August 18, 2009. It was released in North America and Europe on March 22 and March 26, 2010 respectively. It was also given as a reward on Nintendo's now-defunct Club Nintendo service. Reception GamesRadar+ called the game one of the best Game & Watch games, and praised its relative complexity, while saying that Game & Watch games in general are "incredibly primitive" by the standards of today. A writer for Wired called the game an "old favorite". MTV.com called it fun, comparing it to the Game & Watch game Manhole. Complex called it "probably the best" of the ''Mario'' Game & Watch games, praising it for being fun and chaotic, and saying it had more replay value than Mario's Bombs Away. YouTuber Rerez called it their favorite Game & Watch game, and called the full color 1983 Table Top version the best existing version. Cubed3, reviewing the DSi release, was critical, giving it a 5/10 and calling its design primitive by modern standards. IGN recommended the DSi release, though they noted that it was not a strong recommendation due to "picky and precise" movements. TechRadar, Houston Press, and Nerdist have called the game one of the stranger entries in the ''Mario'' series. The Houston Press said the game was "kind of gruesome" since factory workers can be killed by overflowing cement. GamesRadar+ said the game reflected Mario's working-class roots. Mario's role as a cement factory worker has been mentioned in multiple articles that cover the array of professions Mario has undertaken. The original units have become collector's items and, like many Game & Watch titles, a complete-in-box unit can sell for over US$100. The game was featured in a Gunpei Yokoi exhibit in Harajuku in 2010. Notes References Category:DSiWare games Category:Game & Watch games Category:Mario video games Category:1983 video games Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Handheld electronic games